Trust
by PoisonDart
Summary: Elisa is forced into marrying a man she does not know. But will they stay strangers forever? Yay! New chapter!
1. Chapter One

  
  
Some Disclaimers and whatnots: Okay, so this story sucks. So what? You decided to read it because you wanted to, even if the information isn't totally accurate. I know that fourteen is too young to get married, but in case you haven't noticed, it is in the medieval times. People get married as early was fourteen, so there! And it's perfectly natural for them to marry someone who is five or size years older. Okay? So I am NOT sick in any way! Thank you very much! ^-^  
  
Chapter One  
Part One: Elisa  
  
His dark blue eyes stared intently into my own turquoise ones, and made me shiver. I was already melting from those eyes, but the smile he gave me made me melt even more. The Duke of Camington, my new husband. The whole thought had ruined my mood. I remembered again what being married to this man was going to mean. I will no longer be free, and no longer will I run and play and do what a please in my own home, with my own family. That scared me; but it also made me hate him more.   
But how could you hate him? a voice inside my head asked. He is so perfectly handsome! And that he was. His dark shoulder length hair was tied back, giving him a serious, mature look. Not that he needed to be more mature, since he was at least five years older than me. That was the other reason why I was not totally contented with this agreement. I am but fourteen, really too young to be married, considering all my cousins were not wedded until they were at least sixteen.   
I guess it was partially my fault that this happened, because my parents supposedly died trying to save me from the bandits, leaving me alone with my great uncle the Earl of Hamilton. He is an old dear, and although we love each other very much, he had no wife and cannot take care of me any longer by himself because of his old age. The king then requested that he suggest a maiden that would be suitable for the Duke Of Camington, who had just achieved great honor in slaying some barbarians that had gone around slaughtering and stealing from common people. He immediately called for me, and unfortunately, the king took a liking to me, and demanded the Duke wed me. And so here we are.  
"Milady, please let me have the honor of knowing who you are," he said politely, although I am sure he didn't really care about me considering I was clad in rather ragged clothes at the moment, but was still curious to where his new bride was. Well I am sooooo sorry to disappoint. I bowed low. "I am but a humble servant, milord. I am sure you would much rather meet the lady of the house, would you not?" His jaw tightened a little, and I could tell he did not like being questioned about his needs, only to demand them. I continued to smile brightly at him.   
"I guess the answer is yes then. Please follow me, Milord," I said, as a walked off in my confidence stride to uncle's chamber. I could hear the duke grumbling behind me, obviously not please that a mere chambermaid was leading him around. After a couple of twists and turns around the castle, we managed to get to the master chamber. Knocking on the door, I called out to the earl. "Milord, the Duke of Camington has arrived and wants to meet with you and the Lady Eli." I smiled to myself, sure that my great uncle would notice my nickname in use.   
The door immediately opened and my uncle's merry face popped out to greet us both. I bowed at him, and turned away, knowing I couldn't have left even though I wanted to. "Hold on young lady! You have some explaining to do. Where is the 'Lady Eli'?" he demanded, his voice hinting amusement. I turned back to face him, although my eyes were on the ground, like I had seen some servants do when answering to their masters.   
"Milord, I am uncertain as to where she is," I said meekly. He took my chin and lifted it up so I was looking straight into his wrinkled eyes, which also seemed to show his amusement. He gave me a stern look though. "Eli, dear. You really shouldn't toy with matters like that. Now greet your new husband like a good, civilized lady." I beamed at him, giving him a hug for being such a good sport, and then turned around, giving a low curtsy to the stunned duke.   
  
Part Two: William  
  
I looked at the chambermaid, or at least that was what I thought she was, give the earl a hug as she smiled brightly at him. I had thought she was quite plain and too young when I had first met her at the gates, but now she looked neither. Only pretty and exuberant. Then she turned solemnly and curtsied, looking up at me with her turquoise eyes and smiling demurely. Then she did something unexpected. She went up and hugged me.   
I felt myself soften, but decided against that and made my body stiffen instead. She let go of me and gave me a bright smile. "Milord, I am honor to meet you." I studied her more carefully. So this was my bride to be. She looked like she was no more than thirteen! "Oh, and I am currently fourteen years of age, in case you had any need to inquire," she said offhandedly, and wincing when the earl gave her a firm look. So I was close. Fourteen…  
I looked back at her just in time to see her eyes roll back in a sarcastic gesture. Women these days. No respect for men whatsoever. 'She would have to be taught that respect then,' I though with a little grin. "Milord," I said with a polite smile to the earl, "I am afraid that we have to decline your offer to stay at the castle tonight. It seems the king is in need of my service, and being that I do not want to wait any longer to behold this fiery beauty, she and I will have to leave right after the ceremonies.   
The Earl of Hamilton nodded, and so we all rushed off to perform the matrimonial ceremony. The event took place smoothly, and after we exchanged our vows, it was time for the kiss. I looked down at Elisa, whose shiny black curls and turquoise green eyes seemed to hypnotize me. She blushed slightly and smiled her beautiful smile. It was such a shame she was too young, for she would be bliss to bed with. Such a shame…   
"You know Milord, you don't have to add much more suspense to this wonderful moment," I heard her whisper softly after awhile, and bending down I made ours lips meet in what must have been the quickest kiss I ever encountered, for she pulled away from me before I had time to actually feel those full pink lips. After everything was packed, we proceeded on our journey to Camington.   



	2. Chapter Two

  
Chapter Two  
Part One:  
  
They sat quietly in the carriage, not talking at all. Elisa fidgeted a little beside him, and William wondered what he will do with her once they get to Camington. No way will he bed with her; she was just far too young to suit his tastes... 'But why should it matter?' he asked himself. 'You know that if she was just a year or two younger, you'd have a hard time staying away from her.'   
Finally she spoke. "Look William. We both know that I am too young for you, so I hope we can just be friends and nothing more." His tempers flared. How dare she set rules with him. Wasn't he the lord of the castle? Wasn't he the one who was provided for her? Wasn't he her husband? He intended to make that quite clear that she was in no circumstances to whether he could have her or not. "You are my wife and I will take you when I want."   
She gave him a blunt look. "That's what you think!" she said, as she looked away from him. Now William was even more surprise. No woman had ever dared to speak to him like that before, let alone turn away from his presence. But that's not what surprised him the most. It was that he actually allowed it.   
  
Elisa's Point of View:  
  
How dare he! I can't believe said something like that! He is a supposed to be a gentleman, and person who is agreeable and fair. How fair is he when he forces a maiden again her will? I shifted again so that I was sitting farthest away from him. I could not help but let out a little growl which surprised him tremendously. So I was unladylike. You are allowed to be unladylike when you grow up with a man!   
"Are you upset, Milady?" he asked. "Oh no. Why would I be upset when someone I am going to probably spend the rest of my life with has just about forced me to do what I don't want to?" I could feel him take my chin and lift it up so I was looking directly into his midnight eyes. "I will not touch you, Milady," he said it so softly that I could hardly hear him. Then he let go of me completely and looked outside the window.   
"We should be almost there. When we arrive I will take you to your room and will leave you there to attend to your...sanitary needs. Then we shall meet at supper time." I nodded. "Fine with me." He looked annoyed. He was probably thinking that it didn't matter if it was fine with me or not; it was his decision. Well damn his decision! I sighed. Why why why why why did I have to leave my home? This Duke of Camington seemed to be annoyed at me constantly and I am already missing uncle and my maids and servants. We had grown to be such good friends...  
When they arrived there, I was indeed led to a large gilded room where I was to stay and prepare myself for supper. After several long moments of wandering in the land of null, I decided upon something. 'He did not say that I could not go outside,' I thought to myself, and reached for the door. I walked outside and was immediately bumped by something; or someone.   
I looked down to find a little girl about three or four years of age staring back up at me timidly. "Hello there," I said, " Did I hurt you, little one?" Then cute lass shook her head, and then gave me a bright smile. Taking the hand I offered her, she got up. "I am Lady Elisa Thorn. And you are, sweetie?" The little girl giggled, and then curtsied. "Nice to meet you, sister. I am Mary Mandrake, and I am William the Duke's sister. We are going to have so much fun together!" This caught me by surprise. I did not know that 'William' had a sister, not to mention such an adorable one.   
Taking her hand once more, I grinned back at her. "Well little sister, would you do me a big favor and show me around this castle? I know you know all the great hiding places." She agreed that it would be a good idea and we headed off to explore. After showing me all the hiding places in the castle like I had asked, we wandered to the garden where I was astounded by the many assortments of flowers and trees, all of them beautiful.   
Finally picking a weeping willow to sit under, Mary and I began to chat, mostly about Camington and her brother William, who turned out to be a decent person, at least from what I have heard. It was clear by the way Mary talked of William that she loved him, and he must love her too; who wouldn't love such sweet girl? Then she asked me to tell her a story. Rummaging my brains for stories I knew that would be appropriate to tell my newfound sister, I decided there were none and proceeded to make up one. Little did I know that Mary wasn't the only one listening to my story.   
  
Part Two:  
  
William scanned the room and groaned to himself. 'Where on Earth is she?' he wondered. 'Hadn't I told her to stay in her room? Where is she now?' He stalked out of the bedroom and called out to a maid he saw passing by.   
"You! Have you seen the Lady Elisa?" The maid was scared, but she knew better then to show it in front of the duke when he had a temper. She didn't know for sure who the Lady Elisa was, but she knew that she had saw a lady going out to the garden with Lady Mary. This she told him. William immediately stormed off to the garden to find his sister and his bride.  
But all his irritation dissipated into thin air when he saw them. His sister never looked happier and Elisa more beautiful. Mary was happily sitting on Elisa's lap while she told her a sort of story. Tendrils of the raven black hair fell across Elisa's face as she looked own at the little girl. She smiled and continued with her story. The sunlight played upon her features giving her a golden glow and making her eyes shine even more than before.   
William came closer to listen to what she was saying. "There was once a girl who wanted nothing more than to find true love. But she was forced to marry this man she did not even know, and she was very sad," she said. He wondered…   
"Will she be happy again?" "The girl wished upon a star to tell her what to do, and a fairy came, saying that she had to try and love her husband first. The girl tried her very best, but her husband did not love her back, even when she did fall in love with him."   
"But why didn't he love her?" Mary asked again.   
"Because… because he could not see her as she really was. He could not see her love for him. But don't worry. In the end he did, and they had a cute little baby girl, who grew up to be the prettiest girl in the land, and her parents never forced her to do anything." Mary beamed.   
"Yay! I was pondering on how the story would turn out. I am so glad that both of them found true love." Elisa hugged the girl, and they both laughed. William had something to ponder himself. Was she really talking about them, or was it just a coincidence? With his new bride, he didn't think he'd ever find out.   
He cleared his throat, and felt her immediately look back to meet his gaze. Was it just his imagination or did he see her blush at his appearance? Mary jumped up and greeted him with a loving hug, and he returned it. Then he motioned for Elisa to stand. "Come, we must go to dinner. You must be starving by now, after such an awkward trip. He knew she was surprised that he cared, and the truth was, he was too. She gingerly picked herself up off the floor and took the hand he offered, and all three of them walked towards the castle to the dining hall.   
*****************************************************  
While they ate, little Mary continued to ramble on about how great her new sister in-law was.  
"…And she taught me how to braid my hair, and recognize the alphabets too!" William frowned a little. He knew that a lady was to be smarter than others, but he was not sure he wanted his sister to learn how to read. Most men these days do not favor women who were too smart for their own good.   
Elisa looked at him slowly. She could not help but dislike him, despite the fact that she was now his wife. He seemed so cold to her, and she did not like what he said on their journey one bit. When they got to the dining hall, she sat on his right side while Mary was gestured to sit on his left. But she apparently did not want to tonight.   
"Oh please brother, could I sit next to Elli? Pleeease?" William smiled at his younger sister even though he did not at all like the fact that Elisa was causing his sister to like him less. He really had a soft spot when it came to her, though.   
"Okay, but only if your new sister does not mind," he look at Elisa, making it in his eyes clear that he did not want her to say yes, but she looked away from him to smile at the little girl.   
"I would be most delighted if you will sit with me, Mary." So Mary skipped to her side and sat nest to her, grinning cheerfully.   
'This girl is going to be hard to teach…' William thought to himself as he watched her calmly look back at him with a smile on her face.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Chapter Three Part One: Elisa's Point of View 

All through dinner he stayed quiet.I guess he must have been angry with me for not "catching" his silent command.To be honest, I did not really care.If he did not care about my needs and wants, then was there a reason why I should care for his?My growing up with men who loved me enough to not restrain me from my nature did not do much good for my new husband, apparently.And besides, I really did enjoy Mary's company, and certainly did _not _miss the slight disapproval that was in his eyes when she told him what we had been doing at the library.

Mary continued to chatter on merrily as we ate our dinner. I was surprised by the large amount of food on the table, for we almost certainly could not eat it all.After we had consumed about one third of the food offered, we were all too full to continue.I quick call from him brought the servants scurrying to clear away the table as we exited the dining room to go to bed.I was greatly surprised that we were to retire that early in the evening, since twilight had just broken and I was not at all tired.

I looked up at William questioningly while walking up to our bedchambers after tucking Mary into bed.He gave me a smirk, which; although it should not have, nearly made me blush.

"You are probably pondering the reasons to why we are to retire to bed so early," he said knowingly.I shrugged a little, but it was obvious that he had guessed correctly.

"Well," he continued on, "it is a rule at the castle that when the little lady's bedtime approaches, that we all must pretend to go to sleep.My sister, as you can already tell, does not like being left out of things, and for one so young she needs all her rest.So making her believe that everyone will be asleep when she is is the best way to get her to go to sleep.Does that satisfy all your curiousness, Milady?" he finished with a hint of amusement in his voice as he watched me get embarrassed over my seriously wrong guess.

"Yes, it does, Milord," I managed to regain some, if not all of my dignity as a smiled calmly at him.

He seemed to hasten his pace, which was a very unfortunate thing for me, because I already had a difficult time keeping up with his long strides, and also the fact that I did not want to ask him to stop, like a helpless woman who can't even walk fast.He seemed to notice that I was having a hard time do to the fact that I nearly skipped to keep up, and that I was breathing rather heavily.He looked back at me, grinning mischievously. He spoke as we entered our bedchamber.

"What is the matter, Milady?Do you not like waiting for our…first time?" he teased, apparently suggesting my heavy breathing.My face grew hot, and my tempers flared, but he did not seem to notice.

"I see already you think of me as a desirable partner, judging by your features…but please be careful not to look too lusty, heart.You might catch a fever."

Ugh! I could not believe that man!How arrogant…and…and sick minded he is!I threw him a nasty glance at a few words, as well.(NO! You know what I mean by nasty words.Not THOSE kind) He looked shocked.I shrugged as I sat down on the bed.So he was starting to learn what hanging around the knights during my childhood years had taught me.What he did next made me even angrier with him.He laughed.

It was a rumbling, strong laugh, and it seemed to echo in my ears, something I didn't like at all. 

"So the lady has a few surprises of her own?" he asked rhetorically.I sneered. 

"Milord, I may be your wife, but there is no _way _I am going to stand for it if you lay one of your fingers on me when I'm not ready.I didn't take lessons from the knights for nothing, and you will not be please if I should have to put my education to use."

I instantly regretted saying that.He looked amused, but I could tell he was seething venom on the inside._A little garden snake can turn out to be poisonous if you do not be careful. _And I was going to be careful.

"Is that a threat, Elisa," he said in a whispery voice, in more of a statement than a question.I wanted to shiver.He was leaning in so close to me that if I had been any taller, out noses would have touched… But he mouth was only inches away from my forehead, and I felt the warmth of his breath.Through all this I could only think about how he had called me by my name…

We stayed like that for quite a while, until he finally placed a gentle kiss on my forehead, as I closed my eyes.His lips felt soft and tickled my skin.After about two seconds, I opened my eyes and looked up, staring into his.It was strange how he looked at me, with those gray globes that seemed to radiate with energy…and something more.I didn't know what, and I didn't think I wanted to know.I felt his arms drop from my waist, and realized I didn't notice he was holding me.Somewhere through all this I faintly remembered that we were supposed to be mad at each other.He cleared his throat.

"We should probably get ready for bed.Would you like to wash up first, or have you already done that?"

I thought about it. I had cleansed myself when we arrived at the castle, but that was hours ago, and we had spent so much time out in the garden that I had gotten dirt and grass all over myself.I decided it would be better if I took another bath.I told him this. 

"Very well.It will take some time for the servants to heat the water, though.Would you like to go on a walk in the garden with me then?" 

He seemed sincere, and I thought, Why not?It was not like he would eat me alive… At least not the way I think he would.So I nodded to him, and we put on our cloaks and set off to the gardens for the second time that day (well, for me, anyway).

** **

**Part Two:William's Point of View**

Taking Elisa by the hand, I led her through the spacious garden.She would occasionally stop to smell the sweet scent of flower or to marvel at its beautiful vibrant colors.All I could do was marvel at her, and wish I could smell the sweet scent of her hair.Her hand felt so small in mine, and I had a sudden urge to protect her from any harm.We must have circled the garden four or five times before we both realized that we had been there for nearly two hours.The bath water will have cooled by now._Oh well…we could find something to do while it was heated again._

_~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_

I watched her as she gingerly tried to get the tangles from her dark shiny hair._She has beautiful hair…_ Gods, what am I thinking…everything about her was exquisite.She saw me looking at her, and a frown graced her full luscious lips.(Luscious?I am going mad…why must I think about that?)

"What might you want now, Milord?" she asked in an exaggerated tone.I smiled at her.

"Nothing but to admire the beauty that I will not have a chance to bed with tonight, however hard I try.You are striking, Milady," I said with all courtesy.I knew that it was the truth, since I could not bear to force her against her will, and she would simply not accept me yet._What happened to the, She's too young thought?_ A voice in my mind reminded.My heart told me to ignore it, and obviously, so did my body.

She must have been surprised by my words, for she blushed slightly, and looked away from me.

"Wh...what kind of striking?Strikingly horrid?" she stammered.It was my turn to frown.How could a thing like that call herself ugly?

"No," I said in a teasing voice, "strikingly childish.Did anyone ever tell you, Elisa, that you are the most ridiculous girl I ever had the chance to meet?"


End file.
